Beef Manicotti

There are some recipes which are special because they taste amazing, and then there are some recipes which are special because they taste amazing AND they bring back good memories. The same way grandma's butterhorn cookies can transport you back to feeling like a child at Christmas, these beef manicotti take me back to the night my husband proposed. He went all out on the romance and decided to impress me by making dinner from scratch along with candlelight, champagne and the whole nine yards. Pasta filled with meat and three kinds of cheese? Yes, the answer is yes! These beef manicotti are sure to impress anyone you make them for, but they're simple enough to cook for a weeknight family dinner. I've even used this recipe to teach students learning English as a second language since it's a very hands-on dish. Kids also love to help make these! I rely on jarred marinara sauce to streamline the process. That way all I have to concentrate on is preparing the filling and stuffing the tubes. So much yummy cheese and beefy flavor! If you use a zip-lock bag to pipe the filling into the pasta, that part goes rather quickly. Simply place the filling into the bag and snip off one of the corners. Then, squeeze from the top and it's a fuss-free job, plus way less messy than using spoons! To make an even faster dinner reminiscent of this meal, try my Ricotta Pasta with Beef. There's no stuffing involved! The manicotti will all fit in a 13x9 pan if you tuck them in snuggly. Then we douse the whole thing with sauce and extra cheese. It makes for an ooey, gooey cheesy dinner. If you would like them to look "prettier" (more like the photos), space them out a little more and bake the extras in a square pan. Now married, my husband and I still make these beef manicotti together. It's a great teamwork dinner and tasty reminder of the love we share. Print Save Beef Manicotti Recipe Embed Ingredients 8 ounces Manicotti, 14 pasta tubes 3-4 cups Marinara Sauce 1 pound Ground Beef 1 large Onion, diced 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder 1 teaspoon Italian Seasoning dash of Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, optional 1 16 ounce container Ricotta Cheese 3 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided, 12 ounces 1/2 cup Grated Parmesan Cheese salt and pepper, to taste Directions Cook the manicotti according to the package instructions; set aside. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease a 13x9 baking dish. Spread 1 1/2 cups of marinara sauce in bottom of dish; set aside. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef along with the onion, garlic powder, Italian seasoning and red pepper flakes (if using). Season to taste with salt and pepper. Crumble the beef with a potato masher until cooked through and onion is softened. Drain of excess grease and set aside to cool. In a large bowl, mix the ricotta, 2 cups of mozzarella and parmesan cheeses. Add the beef and stir to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer cheese mixture to resealable bag and snip one of the corners. Pipe the filling into the manicotti shells and place in a single layer in prepared baking dish. Top with remaining sauce (use more if you like it saucy) and remaining cup of mozzarella cheese. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until sauce is bubbly. Recommended Silpat Entremet Baking Pan Cuisinart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls Pyrex Baking Dish - 4.8 Quart Le Creuset Skillet via Food Fanatic http://ift.tt/2oM18g7 Food Fanatic

Emoji Donuts For The Texting Fanatic In You

Let me preface this by saying that I normally DO NOT fry things from home. I am the queen of things like oven fried chicken (this Gluten Free Oven Fried Chicken is on point in case you need a good recipe), and up until now, all the donuts I have shared with you have been baked. [See: Chocolate Kahlua Donuts and Chunky Monkey Banana Donuts - those baked donuts'll knock your socks off] Most would argue that baked donuts are not real doughnuts. Emoji Donuts called for a change with my aversion to frying though. Because if you are going to make donuts that look like the donut emoji, you really have to get it right. All of this is to say that I (along with my teenage boys that eat like bottomless hungry monster pits) am really glad that we fried these donuts. The next thing you need to know about Emoji Donuts is that they are CAKE DONUTS. That means the batter is super simple to make and you probably have all the ingredients hanging around in your cabinet if you move enough things around. I went with cake donuts because they are sturdy. And honestly, a little less intimidating than yeast doughnuts. If you aren't sure about the difference between cake donuts and yeast doughnuts, we are probably not friends. Kidding. Kind of. Yeast doughnuts are like this Krispy Kreme Glazed Donut Recipe. They are fluffy and when you bite them, they sort of squish down and lose their shape a bit. Cake donuts on the other hand are made with what's essentially cake batter. When you bite into them they hold their shape. The outside is a nice golden brown, and the inside is like a perfect, tender cake. On to the glaze!!! I made two. A pink glaze and a chocolate glaze. That's because half of my donut emojis have pink frosting with sprinkles and the other half have chocolate. The pink was my favorite because I am definitely 6 years old when it comes to donuts, but the chocolate is rich, perfectly decadent, and goes GREAT with the cake donuts. Print Save Emoji Donuts Recipe Embed Ingredients 1 cup Granulated Sugar 4 teaspoons Baking Powder 1 1/2 teaspoons Salt 2 Eggs 1 cup Milk 1 tablespoon Pure Vanilla Extract 1/4 cup Unsalted Butter, melted 4 cups All-Purpose Flour Vegetable Oil, for frying Rainbow Sprinkles, for decorating, Jimmies For the Pink Glaze:: 2 cups Powdered Sugar 2 tablespoons Milk 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract Red Food Coloring For the Chocolate Glaze:: 1 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar 4 tablespoons Unsweetened Cocoa Powder, dark pinch of Salt 2 tablespoons Milk 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract Directions In the bowl of your stand mixer (or a large bowl) fitted with the paddle attachment, combine the sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Slowly drizzle in the melted butter while mixing until the ingredients in the bowl are combined. Add 3 cups of the flour and mix until it's combined. Add the remaining cup of flour a little at a time, mixing between each addition until the dough is soft and sticky, but still firm enough to handle. (You can add up to 1/2 cup more flour.) Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let it chill for 1 hour. Heat 1-2 inches of vegetable oil in a large stock pot to about 360°F. Have your frying strainer or slotted spoon ready. Line a plate with paper towels. On a well-floured surface, roll out half of the dough to about 1/2" thick. ***Remember that these WILL puff up when cooking and if they are too thick the center won't cook through*** Using a large biscuit cutter, cut out your donuts. Use the small biscuit cutter to cut out the hole in the center. Carefully drop your donuts 1-2 at a time into the hot oil. You may need to reduce the heat on your stove so they don't burn or cook too quickly on the outside. Cook for about 1 minute and turn them. They will need to cook for about 3 minutes total while you continue to turn them so they are colored and cooked evenly. Remove them to drain on the paper towels and repeat with the remaining dough. Once the donuts are completely cooled, you can glaze them and add sprinkles. To Make the Pink Glaze: Mix together the powdered sugar, milk, and vanilla. Add just a couple of drops of red food coloring to reach your desired pink. To Make the Chocolate Glaze: Mix together the powdered sugar, dark cocoa powder, and salt. Add the milk and vanilla and mix until combined.  Notes You can cook the donut holes! They only need to fry for about a minute. Tools to have handy: paper towels A frying strainer/drainer or metal slotted spoon Biscuit cutters (one large and one small to cut out the center) Recommended Cuisinart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls KitchenAid Stand Mixer Breville Hand Mixer Le Creuset Revolution Spatula via Food Fanatic http://ift.tt/2pvIlVs Food Fanatic

Raspberry Coconut Cream Sodas

Can we all agree that there are people in the world who make life entirely too complicated? Life is already super hard. I am being serious. Every day there's like fifty trillion things to do. Laundry. Pack lunches. Buy food. Drive people places. Work. Make dinner. Pay money for things. Give baths. It's never ending. Sometimes I think about all the things that I'll do when I have free time but then I remember that there is no such thing as free time because it will never exist in the history of life. That basket full of mismatched socks that has been sitting on top of the dryer for five hundred years? They'll probably fossilize at some point. What do you do, that's life, man. But then I go on Facebook and see people making their own bath bombs and building furniture out of wooden pallets and making recipes with nine-hundred and forty-seven ingredients them and I wonder…really? Is there any way we as a society can just take a vote and maybe veto all of these things? Because I think they might be making me and my basket of fossilized socks look bad. Not that I don't love wooden pallets and bath bombs, because I do. Recipes with nine-hundred and forty-seven ingredients…not so much. What do you do, I am a simple girl. I think it's just the season of life I'm in now that allows for zero unnecessary complications. The other day I actually caught myself wondering if a business exists where you can hire someone to come over and do the whole hour of bath time, stories, hair brushing, and tucking in. And then maybe fold a couple of baskets of laundry and put it away before they go home. But then I realized that I was basically trying to hire someone to be a parent. Whoopsies. All is not lost. As luck would have it, sometimes the simplest things in life are the best, and these coconut raspberry Italian cream sodas are no exception. The kids and I love making our favorite flavors of soda – these are so pretty and are a fun weekend treat. Enjoy! Print Save Raspberry Coconut Cream Sodas Recipe Embed Ingredients 1 cup Sparkling Seltzer Water 1 ounce Coconut Drink Syrup, like Torani 3/4 ounce Raspberry Drink Syrup, like Torani 1 ounce Heavy Cream Whipped Cream, for topping Directions Fill a large glass with crushed ice. Add seltzer water. Pour syrups into the glass, stirring to mix. Add heavy cream, giving a couple of stirs. Top with whipped cream and serve. via Food Fanatic http://ift.tt/2ppdkQK Food Fanatic

Cherry Pie Cinnamon Sticks

Did you know that cherries start to be harvested by the end of April or early May? In fact, I didn't know this little bit of information until after I made these Cherry Pie Cinnamon Sticks! I just know for me, as I look outside and see the flowers starting to bloom I started craving spring foods. My first thoughts were cherries, but in all honesty, I thought they were more of a summer fruit, which would be perfect for making this Stone Fruit Cobbler with Bourbon. It is kind of both a spring and summer fruit, because they are in season from May until August. Which means we get to enjoy fresh cherries for the next few months! Although I didn't have fresh cherries to make this particular dessert, that won't stop you from trying these Chocolate Cherry Tarts or this Cherry Vanilla Root Beer Float made with homemade cherry vanilla ice cream. It is out of this world! To make these sticks you are going to need a few basic ingredients. Cherry pie filling is the star of this particular recipe. Then, there is of course puff pastry, cinnamon, sugar and melted butter. You probably have all of the ingredients on hand, so you can whip these up in no time! I allowed my pastry to defrost for about 20 minutes. You really do not want to let it go much longer than that. It will make it a little harder to deal with the dough later on in the baking process if it's any more defrosted. But no worries, while you wait 20 minutes you can get your cherry pie filling processed and ready to spread, melt your butter and combine your cinnamon and sugar. By that time your oven should be preheated as well, so then the fun really starts! I hope you get the chance to try these Cherry Pie Cinnamon Sticks. I am off to think of more puff pastry recipes for you! Enjoy! Print Save Cherry Pie Cinnamon Sticks Recipe Embed Ingredients 1 sheet Puff Pastry, thawed 2 tablespoons Butter, melted 1/2 cup Sugar 1 tablespoon Cinnamon 1/2 cup Cherry Pie Filling Directions Allow puff pastry to thaw for 20 minutes. In the meantime, preheat oven to 400°F and line baking sheet with parchment paper. Take cherry pie filling and process in processor until you small chunks form. Set aside. Mix sugar and cinnamon together and set aside. Roll out puff pastry into rectangle. Cut pastry crosswise into 14 sticks. Brush with melted butter. Sprinkle on sugar mixture. Drop spoonfuls of cherry pie filling onto pastry. Spread out evenly. Twist each stick and place on baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Allow to cool for 4 minutes. Serve and ENJOY!  Recommended Demarle Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat Le Creuset Jelly Roll Pan 360 Bakeware Jelly Roll Pan Dreamfarm Clongs via Food Fanatic http://ift.tt/2plaoow Food Fanatic

Dessert Is Coming to Chipotle!

We repeat: This is not a drill. Your favorite fast casual burrito chain is now offering dessert. That's right, Chipotle is about to have dessert added to its menu. The chain mentioned on it's Tuesday earnings call that it would be testing a new dessert item at restaurants later this month. No exact date or locations were identified. A lot of you might be thinking the obvious choice is churros. I mean, even Taco Bell has churros on its menu, so Chipotle would make them 10,000 times better, right? While that may be true, it's not churros! It's Buñuelos! Your South Texan editor grew up on Buñuelos, so let me try to break it down. They're kind of like crispy tortillas that are fried, and then tossed in cinnamon and sugar. Around San Antonio, they're served with honey for drizzling, but Chipotle is going to up the game by offering an apple caramel butter dipping sauce.  Chipotle stated that the strips can be made using already existing equipment in each restaurant, and only require a few additional ingredients (like cinnamon and sugar), making it a better choice than churros, which are much like funnel cakes - a wet pastry dough that gets deep fried.  Chipotle will be serving their Buñuelos in already cut up strips, making them easy to fry and toss quickly.  Adding dessert is a fantastic way for Chipotle to win back customers and boost sales, after a string of high-profile foodborne illness outbreaks.  But now we need them to add coffee to their drink line up, because this Texan will tell you - ending a meal with coffee and a plate full of Buñuelos? There's nothing finer. To prove it, I've got a great Buñuelos recipe for you too. Print Save Buñuelos Recipe Embed Ingredients 3 cups All-Purpose Flour, sifted twice 1 tablespoon Baking Powder 1 teaspoon Salt 1 tablespoon Granulated Sugar 2 Eggs 3/4 cup Milk 1/2 cup Butter Oil, for frying Directions In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. In a smaller mixing bowl, combine sugar, eggs, and butter. Beat them together until fluffy, then mix in milk. Add the milk mixture to the flour, stirring in until just combined. If the dough is too dry, you can add a few more drops of milk until you have a cohesive dough. Knead the dough on a board until smooth. Shape into balls (about 20). Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.  Heat oil one-inch deep in large skillet to 360°F.  Roll out each ball on a lightly floured surface, making a thin 6-inch circle (about the size and shape of a tortilla. Fry until golden brown and drain on paper towels. Sprinkle with sugar-cinnamon topping while warm, and drizzle with honey. Recommended Le Creuset Skillet Lodge Cast Iron Skillet Breville Hand Mixer Cuisinart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls via Food Fanatic http://ift.tt/2oJYRwV Food Fanatic